Big Brother and the Holding Company Fuzz

[Travis Warburton]

Hey all, so I'm wondering what was done to get this sort of tone. I've searched the web night and day and haven't seem to come across much.
Does anybody have any idea what fuzz(es) he was using? On an interview here he seems to recall a pedal made by a company that started with the name J, which is most likely Jordan if he remembers correctly. But maybe he didn't use the Jordan for those particular recordings, so I have come here to see what people might think. In most pictures he seems to be using a Gibson SG and Fender Dual Showmans and Twin Reverbs.
In the solo around 2:10 on this song it sounds like a fuzzrite sort of thing which is then overlapped with another sounding fuzz.

Anyways, let me know what y'all think, thanks.

 

[msnes335]

Good question, very interested if anyone has an answer.

 

[sixty2strat]

no idea but I have some high quality fuzzes from Sola, Analog and Fulltone and the cheapo fuzzrite DIY clone sounds the closest. The others are too smooth. Been told Jorma used an ampeg so maybe he did too

 

[CEFlint]

According to this interview with James Gurley, it was likely a Jordan Boss Tone Fuzz, which wasn't a stomp box, but plugged directly into the guitar jack. This interview indicates that he may have carved out a part of his SG to have it permanently installed.

http://jasobrecht.com/big-brother-holding-company-1978-james-gurley-interview/

 

[Echoes22]

A decent tonebender should get you most of the way there just based on that first clip.

 

[1973Marshall]

This is a great thread!

 

[Jeff Taylor]

My buddy had this same fuzz tone back in HS around 1969 but it was labeled by Vox if I recall. Jordan also made early solid state guitar and bass amps, they were out of Calf. and short lived....There was a whole series of these little plug in modules, many early Electro-Harmonix units too, there was a fuzz, a signal boost, a bass boost, etc, very popular except they tended to break your pickguard if you banged it, or they fell out of side jack guitars like Gibson Les Pauls, or wouldn't fit into the recessed jack of a Tele or Strat. Many people would put them under the handle of your amp head and use an extension chord with a female 1/4" jack at one end to get around that problem...they soon fell out of favor but this thing had THE sound for playing the intro to Beatle Revolution...Gurley's sound does sound like one of these units....

 

[zenitB]

In the Sixties, the only fuzz I ever saw was a Mosrite but I do remember hearing about Jordan and Vox making them.

 

[Feverdog]

I used to have a EHX Satisfaction that's supposedly based on he Jordan Bosstone. Horrible pedal. Volume drop. Signal killer.

 

[Tiny Montgomery]

I just got a Voodoo Lab Bosstone (Jordan clone) a couple of weeks ago. I like it a lot. Seems like I remember seeing BB&THC mentioned somewhere when reading about Bosstones, but I’m not 100% sure.

It has a fair amount of gain, but has a really nice, gradual cleanup. I got it because I was on a Spirit kick, and one showed up used, in the midst of it.

 

[cbm]

its different than Fuzz Faces and Muffs and Tone Benders which represents the euro rockers to me.

The Big Muff is as American as it gets.

 

[Fuzzr]

I used to have a EHX Satisfaction that's supposedly based on he Jordan Bosstone. Horrible pedal. Volume drop. Signal killer.

It’s not based on the Jordan. It’s based off of the Maestro FZ-1. Different fuzz altogether.

 

[Feverdog]

It’s not based on the Jordan. It’s based off of the Maestro FZ-1. Different fuzz altogether.

Yeah, but the Internet said it was so...

 

[Tiny Montgomery]

It’s not based on the Jordan. It’s based off of the Maestro FZ-1. Different fuzz altogether.

They forgot a transistor, then.

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

The rare Jordan Electronics Bosstone (circa 1968) is considered by many to be the ultimate vintage fuzz. The Voodoo Lab Superfuzz® starts with this classic fuzz design and adds unique tone and resonance circuits to create an amazing new array of fuzz tones.

The tone control delivers a wide spectrum of midrange and bass timbres, everything from an extreme gain scooped tone through a raucous, bluesy, prominent mid voicing. The resonance control is a sub-harmonic booster that lets you add an aggressive bottom end not typically found on fuzz pedals. Attack varies the gain from rich and creamy to outrageous.

 

[Tiny Montgomery]

The “Satisfaction” isn’t even the first time Electro-Harmonix manufactured a fuzz named after a song that used a totally different circuit.

The Guild Foxey Lady, when produced by EH, was a Big Muff. Before that, it was produced by Mosrite, and was a Fuzzrite. At no point was it a Fuzz Face clone.

 

[Pedal Dan]

I used to have a EHX Satisfaction that's supposedly based on he Jordan Bosstone. Horrible pedal. Volume drop. Signal killer.

I bought one of those at some point...

I plugged it in the other day, and it sounded great!

 

[Feverdog]

I wanted it to be great cuz it was so cheap and nasty sounding and I love something about every fuzz,

I bought one of those at some point...

I plugged it in the other day, and it sounded great!

But in a band, with volume...sounded like wet cotton

 

[zombiwoof]

Mahoney makes great Jordan recreations, original plug-into-guitar or stompboxes. Here's his Bosstone (He used call it a Bosstone before VoodooLab got the rights to the name):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mahoney-Bu...306764?hash=item3634288d0c:g:qxYAAOxyirJSDXRH

The VoodooLab pedals are close to the old Bosstone, but not exact copies like Mahoney's. He also sells parts for those old vintage Bosstones if you have a broken knob or something. He also makes copies of the other Jordan pedals, I wasn't aware of many of them. They even had one that was similar to a Big Muff. Check out his page for all of them.
Al